13-Year-Old’s Gangsta Video Spurs Outcry From Community

Released a month ago with already nearly half-a-million page views, rap song “Lil Mouse Get Smoked” has created quite a stir. The song, which celebrates violence and murder, was penned by a 13-year-old Lil Mouse who lives on the South Side of Chicago. While the song continues to pick up steam, NewsOne spoke with violence and mental health expert Terrie Williams as well as Lil Mouse’s producer, P. Noble, about whether this type of music — in light of what’s happening in our communities — is acceptable.

Barely a teen, Lil’ Mouse appears in “Lil Mouse Get Smoked” in his Roseland neighborhood, clutching a grip of money and posing in front of a BMW. Shamelessly spewing expletives while painting a depressing picture of his surroundings, Lil’ Mouse says:

[The hook:]

F*ck around, f*ck around, f*ck around and get smoked…

——————

I’m rollin’, all my n*ggas rollin’

…

.30 clip and them hollow tips have his a** sitting in Roseland

Floating off a pill, p*ssy bad kill

N*ggas talking shit in the club, you better watch yourself

My n*ggas in the field may get killed….

Y’all niggers ain’t real, lame niggers get killed

…

N*ggas talking shit in the club, you better watch yourself

Melly got the .30 on his hip, he’s gone need some help

I’m a gangster, n*gga, and I could do this s*it my f*ckin’ self

…

F*ck around, f*ck around, f*ck around and get smoked

Watch “Lil Mouse Get Smoked” here:

Since its debut, the song has caused a sizable backlash in Chicago. The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Unfortunately, there has been no public outcry over a raunchy video titled “Lil Mouse Get Smoked” that debuted on YouTube on July 4, and has since blown up the Internet. Nearly 300,000 people have viewed it, making the 13-year-old the latest rap sensation to come out of Chicago.

Known as “Lil Mouse,” the baby-faced rapper repeatedly drops “F” and “N” bombs in a music video that glorifies sex, drugs, and violence. At one point, an adult male gets behind the teen and makes it look like the teen is holding the gun. On popular music video sites, the teen, who allegedly lives in Roseland, is being promoted as the “13-year-old rapper from the Wild, Wild Hundreds.”

The gangster-style music video is even more profane when you consider that Chicago is desperately trying to reduce gang- and- drug-related violence that helped push the homicide rate up nearly 40 percent and claimed the lives of so many of the city’s children.

And the Chicago Sun-Times doesn’t exaggerate about the crime rate for the embattled city.

Just last month, a 1-year-old Roseland girl died of head trauma, and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled her death a homicide, according to the Redeye, which tracks homicides in the city. No further details were available about the incident.

Overall, the city’s homicides have skyrocketed about 28 percent, with 327 killings from Jan. 1 through Aug. 9, compared with 255 during the same period in 2011, according to police statistics.

Williams, a clinical social worker who became a public relations executive, calls the video “child abuse,” “It is unconscionable. How do you let a young person do that? I just had no words when I saw the video. I’ve seen young Black kids cursing out Korean store owners, but this is over the top.”

In Williams view, Lil Mouse’s family needs to seek mental health treatment for the teen before he perpetuates the violence he glorifies in his rhymes, “If you see something, say something,” Williams said about the child celebrating violence in the video. “We cannot allow this. It really requires a village to come together to stop it. Where are the adults in his life?”

The producer of the video, P. Noble, also a resident on Chicago’s South Side, pushed back against criticism of the video, saying that he sees nothing wrong with it. Instead, Noble sees it as an avenue for the teen to make money while expressing himself:

“Lil Mouse is writing his own lyrics about what he sees in his community every day,” Noble told NewsOne in an exclusive interview. “This is an eye opener for people about what’s really going on in urban communities. His message doesn’t disturb me. It’s what young people call, ‘Keepin’ it real.’ And this is the way the music industry is headed.”

Noble may be right.

Eighteen-year-old rap sensation Chief Keef, who hails from Chicago’s South Side, is known as the prince of violence for obvious reasons.

He recently signed a lucrative deal with Interscope Records.

“If Lil Mouse were White and strumming a guitar,’’ Noble added, “the reaction would be much different. He is being singled out because of what he’s rapping about. It’s a way for him to keep it real. I don’t celebrate negativity, the abuse of women, or violence, but I do celebrate a youth coming out of a situation of poverty and despair. I’m pretty sure he’s going to do well.”